From the moment I sat down to watch my first episode of "The French Chef," I was hooked on cooking shows.

In fact, based on the number of hours I've spent studying Julia, Gordon and Alton, I ought to be a superchef myself. Alas, that's not the case. But if there's one thing I can do better than Chef Tell, it's tell you about the best shows in the genre.

And with a dizzying array of shows aired on entire networks devoted to cooking, you're going to need a roadmap.

So, with that in mind, here is our list of the "Top 100 Cooking Shows of All Time." Read it to re-visit some of your old favorites, or study it carefully to discover some new gems.

Either way, enjoy the list, let us know what you think and, please, no wagering.

I was pleased to see you had a good selection of shows from around the English-speaking world, including some Canadian gems. But unless I missed it, you didn’t include my very favourite Canadian cooking show, Pasquale’s Kitchen Express.

A good man and a fine cook (and a decent singer as well), Pasquale entertained the largely Italian immigrant population in Toronto and its surroundings for many years.

Although it was rather short-lived, I loved “Adventures with Ruth” (Reichl). A perfect blend of exotic travelogue and unique but totally palatable food. She even had celebrities!

Also, there was a wonderful show on the Food Network around 2003-2004 called “Melting Pot”, which featured a different ethnic cuisine for each day of the week. It was a kind of starting ground for stars like Michael Symon and Aaron Sanchez.

And even though I usually hate the contestants, I never miss “Chopped” because I love to imagine what I would cook with the mystery basket ingredients. It’s given me lots of great ideas!

Although I’m not HUGE fans of the following, I find them a great deal better than many others that made your list, so I’d like to give a shout out to Ming Tsai, Sara Moulton, Michael Chiarello, Ina Garten, and… I can’t believe I’m saying this, Tyler Florence (I thought “Food 911″ was a great concept and usually pretty educational).

Tim Capehart Says:May 25th, 2010 at 10:20 am

Cooking Live With Sara Moulton should have been in your top 10! It was one of the best and most educational food shows ever!

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In the same vein as Alton Brown was David Rosengarten’s Taste, one of my personal all time favorites. How many times does Emeril get mentioned? I loved his show when he didn’t have the live audience and band and didn’t continually say “KICK IT UP!”. As much as I loved watching the Frugal Gourmet, his gentile and proper tv demeanor belied his true wicked self. I can no longer even think of him much less watch his show without having a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

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Jo-Ann Burton Says:January 11th, 2011 at 7:50 pm

Melissa d’Arabian is just annoying. I can handle her maybe 5 minutes. And how did Hell’s Kitchen get in the Best of List while Top Chef made it to the Worst list.

Slt Says:January 17th, 2011 at 7:34 am

David Rocco is an Italian-Canadian…so I think that nasaly voice you’re referring to is actually his accent.

I think that you are mistaken about Dione Lucas being the first woman with a cooking show. Lena Richard had a cooking show in New Orleans beginning in 1947. Although Lucas might have had a national show, as opposed to the local show that Richard had. She was on WDSU.

marie Says:April 9th, 2011 at 5:53 am

how the hell did urban peasant get into the list of best cooking shows, the recipes were unispired and confusing at times(wait make that all the time)..and don’t get me started with the host.
and how come did top chef and barefoot contesa end up in the worst list…i absolutely adore those 2 shows!

wow.. number 96 is a great show, i like how you feel the need to mention “shirtless scenes” and skintight clothing, but of course if it was a woman that would be perfectly ok. If you let that influence your opinion on a cooking show i have no further reason to keep reading this list.